Chapter 62 - 66
"You’ve never done anything wrong," I murmur, my voice steady, but there is slight trembling beneath the surface. I pull back slightly, just enough to catch his eyes, before stepping to Luciano. My hand presses lightly against his chest before I shove him back playfully. His lips twitch with a faint grin, but the bruise beneath his eye—dark and raw—remains a somber reminder.
"Neither of you," I continue, my gaze flicking between them. "But we need to face the fact that there are secrets between us. And I’m not the only one that put them there."
Luciano’s expression hardens, his gaze falling to the floor as he adjusts his weight uncomfortably. When he speaks, his voice is suddenly cold, sharp, and distant—the tone of someone retreating into the safety of formality. "We’re just glad you’re safe," he says, the warmth stripped from his words as he pivots seamlessly into the landscape of politics. "There’s a lot of prep work we need to get through. You have your program attendances to prioritize, and there’s another fundraiser for dad’s development project. He plans to announce it once the Governor’s title is officially his, though it’s basically a done deal."
His words are mechanical, a perfect distraction from the weight hanging between us. The room feels colder for it, the unspoken lingering like shadows at the edge of every word.
"I will begin the prep work when you tell me what really happened to your eye," I say, to raise a cheeky counter offer.
Despite the lightness veiled over my tone, Luciano’s face snaps into a fierce look. "You have work to do. I suggest you get it done."
He turns away, cutting past me, drawing an objection that he disregards with a measure of detachment that is frightening. My eyes jump to Silas to include him in my shock so we can share the burden of concern, but I alone bear it as he shakes his head at me meaningfully and warningly. He breaks away, following Luciano.
"Silas?"
"Let it go," he says to end that matter.
And now I follow him until I’m brought to a jarring standstill. I withdraw a couple steps from the door frame as my dad enters. I thought I was the expert at reading his mood that I could decode every twitch and glance aimed at me or another. Now I am unsure and that uncertainty feels like a knife’s edge to my resolve.